The Importance of Sleep
In this day and age it is becoming increasingly likely that you wont get enough sleep at night. Many people have a hectic lifestyle, juggling a high stress job with family life, and don’t even think about trying to incorporate a social life in there. Every thing is going on so fast these days that no one is ready to rest since they fear if they sleep someone other may go ahead of him. Many have become so intellectual that they are ready to change the rules of nature. They say that sleeping is nothing but waste of time. But those who try to change the rules of almighty have their own troubles.
The rule of the thumb is that the average adult needs approximately 8 hours of sleep per night. This can vary depending on the person though, some may only need 6 hours and other may need 10. Some people will think they need a lot less sleep than this of course. Margaret Thatcher famously needing only 4 hours’ sleep a night during her 11 years as the UK Prime minister. However you may think you only need a few hours of sleep but this will probably have health consequences on your body.
It is reported that over 40 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders, with 60% of Americans having problems sleeping a few nights a week. Psychologists and other scientists who study the causes of sleep disorders have shown that such problems can directly or indirectly be tied to abnormalities in the following systems: · Brain and nervous system · Cardiovascular system · Metabolic functions · Immune system Furthermore, unhealthy conditions, disorders and diseases can also cause sleep problems, including: · Pathological sleepiness, insomnia and accidents · Hypertension and elevated cardiovascular risks (MI, stroke) · Emotional disorders (depression, bipolar disorder) · Obesity; metabolic syndrome and diabetes · Alcohol and drug abuse Groups that are at particular risk for sleep deprivation include night shift workers, physicians (average sleep = 6.5 hours a day; residents = 5 hours a day), truck drivers, parents and teenagers. Stress is the number one cause of short-term sleeping difficulties, according to sleep experts. Common triggers include school or job-related pressures, a family or marriage problem and a serious illness or death in the family. Usually the sleep problem disappears when the stressful situation passes. However, if short-term sleep problems such as insomnia are not managed properly from the beginning, they can persist long after the original stress has passed. Each year the cost of sleep disorders, sleep deprivation and sleepiness, according to the NCSDR, is estimated to be $15.9 million in direct costs and $50 to $100 billion a year in indirect and related costs. And according to the NHSA, falling asleep while driving is responsible for at least 100,000 crashes, 71,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths each year in the United States. Young people in their teens and twenties, who are particularly susceptible to the effects of chronic sleep loss, are involved in more than half of the fall-asleep crashes on the nation’s highways each year. Sleep loss also interferes with the learning of young people in our nation’s schools, with 60 percent of grade school and high school children reporting that they are tired during the daytime and 15 percent of them admitting to falling asleep in class. The following are some tips on how to try and get the best nights sleep possible. 1) Go to bed and get up about the same time each night and morning. If at times it becomes late to sleep at night try to recover it by sleeping for some more time in morning. Avoid going early in the bed. Go to bed only after you feel sleepy.
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